Citrusy Coconut Curry Soup

YUM.

 

The way I read cookbooks, you'd think I was watching a Rear Window. I was reading Jamie Oliver's Cook With Jamie (rapt! breathless!) over the weekend, and came upon an enticing recipe for South Indian Crab Curry. And I thought, hey: When you're starting with a curry--already saucy (sauceaaaay)--it's not a far journey to soup. Thin it out and add some veg? This isn't rocket surgery. 

But I think I'd like to trek into this concept a bit more in the coming weeks, taking non-soup recipes and figuring out how to soupify them. If you have a challenge for me--a favorite dish or a recipe you think would be either delicious or IMPOSSIBLE as a soup--go 'head and throw down.

On to this particular soup: We went for seconds. Couldn't help it.

This could easily be made vegetarian instead of crabatarian, if that’s your thing, by subbing out the crab for some more vegetables or perhaps some tofu. Sweet potatoes would be nice in here, as would julienne carrots or snow peas, green beans, enoki mushrooms, wedged tomatoes?  You could probably put any vegetable short of a big dill pickle spear in here and I’d say it was phenomenal. 

Could also be vegan if you sub out the ghee for a little more oil. I'm going to write the recipe as I made it, but tons of variations would work, really—just put in what you have! Prefer rice noodles to rice? Throw those in! Prefer scallions to cilantro? Why not?

Here’s why: In this recipe, the broth’s the thing. Everything else is kind of inconsequential.

Color: divinely creamy lemon yellow.

Smell: rejuvenating, pungent but not too lingering.

Taste: more citrusy than you'll expect, rendering the coconut as a mellowing agent rather than a main flavor. 

Heat: spiced but not spicy (spiceaaaaay).

As pleasingly creamy as this looks (and is), this is broth is as bold as Erykah Badu stripping on Dealey Plaza (timely reference! (sorry, she was on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me last weekend and is on the brain)). With the seeds left whole as they are, they infuse the broth but also lend an unexpected pop of concentrated flavor here and there when you bite into one. If that doesn't sound appealing to you, You can certainly grind up the cumin, fennel and cardamom a bit, but definitely leave the black mustard seeds whole.

It may look like a long ingredient list, but that's mostly due to spices, and I promise this takes minimal actual work to prepare. If you like South Indian-influenced flavors, I think you'll be happy-to-very-happy with this soup.

If I haven't been clear up to this point, the broth is very good. 

Citrusy Coconut Curry Soup
Adapted from Jamie Oliver's South Indian Crab Curry (Cook with Jamie)

Serves 4-6

GET THIS STUFF

olive oil

1 small white onion, 1/2 diced and 1/2 thinly sliced

1 T fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

2 t whole black mustard seeds

1 t whole cumin seeds (ground a bit if desired)

1 T whole fennel seeds (ground a bit if desired)

5 green cardamom pods, smashed and hulls discarded (just the lil seeds inside)

2-5 Thai bird chiles, thinly sliced

2 t ghee

2 t turmeric

2 c vegetable broth

1 medium Yukon gold potato, peeled and diced

1 can coconut milk

Juice of 1 1/2 lemons and 1/2 lime

handful of cilantro ( a few sprigs reserved for garnish)

1/2 c frozen peas

1 lb lump crab meat

1 c cooked rice (I used red cargo just for pretty color)

DO THIS WITH IT

Heat oil over medium in a heavy-bottomed pot. 

Add onion, ginger, garlic, mustard, cumin, fennel, cardamom and chiles and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for 8-10 minutes. 

Add ghee and turmeric and stir until ghee melts. 

Add broth and potatoes, bring to a simmer and cook, partially covered, another 5 minutes. You won't need a lid anymore after this step.

Add coconut milk, then fill the can halfway with water and add that as well.

Bring back to a simmer and let go for another 5 minutes.

Add citrus juices and let simmer for 10 minutes. 

Roughly tear or chop the cilantro and add it to the soup. 

Add peas, crab and rice and cook until heated through--3 to 5 minutes.

Season with salt to taste, and serve garnished with a bit more cilantro.